Faust

With Christmas truly over, all the decorations long down and the new year proving to be not yet much better than the last, I thought it would be fun to show that it wasn’t all bad news. I thought it might be nice to see that even in the midst of some of the worst times something simple like model kits can bring a lot of people together, even if they can’t be right there. What better way to do that than to show you guys the rather eclectic mix of models that I got for Christmas, and for you to help decide which one you want to get reviewed first. Check out my haul of cars, bikes planes and tanks (oddly, no robots!) at the link below, and let me know which one you like best! https://adamrehorn.wordpress.com/christmas-haul-2020/

Wow! Now THAT is some French ugliness!!! You know I love Hellers, and I love to hate French cars, and this one... that's so disgustingly ugly that I'm going to be getting one if I can find it. I truly don't get the Renault design philosophy. Some of their cars are okay. The rest.... like the 5, the 14, 16 and lots of others are just hideous. This thing looks like a constipated puffer fish. You know that makes me want it.

If you want to see some car kits and engines, you can check the reviews on my site. I generally build kits with full engines, when possible. Cars | The Sprue Lagoon (wordpress.com) You can see I have mostly US stuff, but the Ford Sierra from Tamiya is nice, and fully engined. I have the AMT Capri II, Scirocco and of course the various Revell Escorts and Golfs to recommend if you want Eurpoean full-engined cars. MPC made a great, GREAT '82 (I think) Supra, and if you like Euro trucks there's the AMT Courier and MPC Dodge D-50. The BRAT kit, recently reissued, is a cool kit, but the engine is incomplete, as you can see from my articles on it. For some more JDM, the Tamiya NSX and 280Z have opening engine bays, too. For something different there's the 1/32 EXP/LN7 (see my Out of Box Reviews | The Sprue Lagoon (wordpress.com) page). The Revell Germany Golf Mk.1/Rabbit is insanely well-detailed, as is their line of Trabants! If you want something else, the Transporter/Joker has a full engine I think. Don't forget the Bandai 1/20 Piazza - it has a full engine and is quite a cool looking kit of a largely forgotten car! Hope some of these suggestions help!

Nice! I'm really pumped, because I got this one for Christmas myself! I remember friend of mine riding his much older brother's old Krate when I was younger, back in the early '80s. I love the spokes... I don't have the guts to tackle that, but you, sir, have done a marvellous job! Good on you!

So, as for most of us, I’ve pretty much had it with the dumpster-fire that is 2020. It’s been exhausting and worrisome and just plain stupid, and I’m more or less over it. It is fine for it to pizz right off and never make its kind known again. Of course, I’m sure it’ll only get worse from here, but that kind of positivity is something for another day. In the spirit of 2020, that Grand Conjunction of Murphy’s Law and Sisyphus’ landscaping chores, I thought it was a perfect time to show how the Pioneer 2 Flagon G was coming. If there’s any project that really wallows in the spirit of this past year like a pig in its own manure, then it’s this thing. Check out all the “fun” below, and really, really… don’t try this one at home. Have a safe and profitable 2021, everyone! Happy New Year! https://adamrehorn.wordpress.com/2020/12/30/flagon-g-update-1-take-it-in-almost-throw-it-out/

Yeah, that's what I mean. I am looking for brand new, shiny but chromy too, brass. I've found that Alclad II Chrome (And Molotow, to a greater degree) get dulled SLIGHTLY by the Alclad II Aquagloss, but are still okay. Anything else, though, and yeah, the chrome goes to complete poop. I didnt' know Alclad made a Brass. Now all I have to do is find a hobby shop that sells the Alclads. London (Ontario) doesn't have an Alclad dealer that I know of. Of course, it's academic, since everyone's now locked down for COVID again, so no more hobby shop runs for a while. Thanks for all the awesome ideas, though, guys!

I love the Matchbox kits, not jus the armour, but the planes, too. I have found lots of uses for those "M" stands over the years - I have a couple on my website that are used to support some Sci-Fi craft. Those stands were great, and the gimbal at the top is brilliant. While they require a lot of work and are nowhere near as fine as today's kits, I still love building Matchboxes. Simple and fun, they have the advantage of allowing tonnes of customization while at the same time being very solid and transportable when done. Not only that, but until just recently, you weren't going to find a Skyknight, a two-hole lightning, viggen or Hunter in many other 1/72 places. Still don't think anyone else has made a 1/72 Heyford since them. I love esoteric subjects, simple kits and great box art. No wonder I'm all over the old MBs.

I find the Rustoleums aren't that "chromy". The polished brass looks like whitish-gold chrome, usually, when it's new and shiny. Is that how the Rustoleum looks, or does it look like antiqued, patinaed brass? Same question for the MM. Is there an Alclad, or AK that's polished brass, or something you can do to overcoat Molotow?

My question is, how DO you do the brass on a brass-era car?

It's a Pyro? I thought it was a Kaysun! You're right, of course, about the time thing. I've noticed it too. For me, it's when people talk of 1995 like it's a quarter century ago, and I'm all like... wait... it IS! Shoot.

We all know that “retro modelling” is now a major force. We’ve seen the reissues and the rose-tinted glasses of nostalgia have never been put to more use than now. There’s a lot of demand for repops of old, hard to get kits of weird, not-kitted-since subjects. I thought this was a new trend. I was surprised to find out just how “not new” it was when I got my big box of models in the mail from Alan. In that box, among all kinds of cool stuff, was a Hawk Hupmobile Runabout. This is certainly a subject you don’t find kitted today, and I wasn’t surprised to see it was from the mid ‘60s. However, I was surprised to find out that even then, the model and the subject were both retro, being issued in the mid ‘50s by Kaysun. Thus, you could say that this unusual model really is an early example of a retro-repop! Check out this ancient replica of an even more ancient relic at the link below. It won the poll I put up, but I’m glad I did. I find Brass Era cars fascinating, and this kit is pretty awesome. https://adamrehorn.wordpress.com/hawk-kaysun-1-24-1909-hupmobile-model-20-runabout-oob/

I'm sure I'll be building these through more than the winter! I will, of course, post any work I do on them. The Hupmobile won the poll, so it'll get an out of box review first. That much I can guarantee!

I knew I wasn't alone! If this came back out, I'd certainly be in for two, and that's very unusal for me! I'd love to do one as a haughty "true" neo-classic, and go FULL PIMP on the other one, with all the animal print and crushed diamons you can imagine. So, C'mon Round 2!! You've been a bit slack of late... let's get some classics back out there!

Oh man... that thing is soooo much cooler (i.e. pimp-kitschier) than I'd have thought possible. It's basically rolling blaxploitation. I NEED to get one of these. It NEEDS to be built as pimp as possible, and it needs to have chandeliers on it. And gold. And leopard print. Honestly, as much as I'd love one, I don't think they could reissue it, even if they wanted to. The riots would end up burning whole cities down it's so un-PC.

Nice work, man! I have built one vinyl kit (Kei from Dirty Pair) and it was tough, for me at least. You knocked this one right out of the park. I just find her proportions a bit weird; why is that one arm so long?

I'm a convert, but the other way. I started with planes, built a few cars (mostly for my younger brother as a kid) but stuck with planes. Then I found Gundams, and it was all MS kits for ages. After joining my local IPMS club in 2000, I started to get a bit more into variety, and went back to planes. Then, about a decade ago, my brother bought me a 1/32 EXP, and now I have more cars than I ever thought I would. I still consider myself a Gundam guy first, and plane guy second. However, most people who know me know me as a car guy! Go figure. I think it's cool to build whatever you think is cool. I love that there are so many models of so much neat stuff out there.

One of the hardest things about finally getting your hands on a “grail” kit is deciding if you’re good enough to build it. Well, at least that’s what I find. I used to always worry that I’d somehow screw it all up and be worse off than when I started. However, the more I model, the more I realize that grail kits are the ones I really should be building first. I mean, what’s the point in having something you’ve longed for if it’s just going to sit in a box, right? A perfect example is the Matchbox 1/76 LRDG set. I’ve wanted this Orange Range two-vehicle set since even before I became obsessed with Matchbox armour. Of course, once that bug took hold, getting this went to an even higher priority. I never had luck finding one, until my good friend Alan sent me one, out of the blue! Thanks again, man! I couldn’t resist the siren call of all that original Matchbox box art and those three-colour pieces, and decided that, no matter how it came out, I’d feel a lot better getting a chance to build this one! So, off I went, and now it’s all done. Check out this awesome little blast from the past below. I’m pretty pleased with how it turned out; given I’m not an “armour guy”, and I just kept it simple to what was in the box, I think it looks good. At least I didn’t ruin it! https://adamrehorn.wordpress.com/matchbox-1-76-lrdg/

Yeah, that's an understatement! I've never seen a lot of those kits in the flesh, actually. Some of the Airfixes in the box, yeah, and I turned down a gluebomb version of the blue Vette ($20 for an unsalvageable gluebomb with no decals and messed windows? Uh... no...), but the rest were largely new to me, save the Revell Germany kits, which I have seen in stores in the past. I love the mailplane - that's not an era I know much about, so now it's got me reading up on it and early airmail/airline services. Man... a far cry from today's swift and sure rides! What a great idea for plane stowage! I may do something similar!

Dude! There's nothing to be ashamed of there! It looks great! All the chrome and that nice blue... and the seat looks great too! You should be proud - looks like a darned fine build from where I sit!

With all the travel restrictions and border closures, it’s not been easy to go on “hobby shop runs” this year. What with that, and there not being any model shows, and thus no vendor’s rooms, finding awesome old kits has proven to be a rather difficult sport since March. Thankfully, I have someone in my corner, it seems, as my good friend Alan emailed me that he was going to be sending me some kits he was sure I’d like. Well, he sure knows me well, because in the monstrous 4lb box-o-kits he send me were all kinds of great treasures! From Corvette Street Rods to biplanes and still-sealed 1950’s era Lindbergs to a Hawk re-release of a Kaysun, it was quite an adventure going through it all! Check out my newest score at the link below, and don’t forget to vote in the poll. This time, you can vote for two entries, there are so many to choose from! https://adamrehorn.wordpress.com/the-mountain-comes-to-me/

Hey Guys! I was wondering how you do the nice, high-lustre polished brass of a brass-era car. I think I'd need a paint - foil wouldn't work over things like lanterns and the like. I wish there was a Molotow brass, but there isn't to my knowledge. I'm looking to duplicate the factory-fresh stuff, not with a patina on it. Thanks!

Man, there's an oldie - both the subject and the kit!!! Nice work. LOVE the white tires. I can remember seeing some of these old Brass-Era cars at the Auburn-Cord-Duesenberg museum when I was younger, and loving the white tires, shiny brass and crazy "half-buggy/half-car aesthetic". Looks great, man. Gotta love the classics! Respect!

Thanks guys! I have a kit of the Yak-15 (two actually - both suck...) and I thought that the 109 made a perfect German counterpart to that idea. As for prop-to-jet transition, don't forget the YB-35 to YB-49. Of course, that's almost USAAF '46, since it's not a production plane! That E.555 is an awesome kit. I have it in the stash. I was toying with doing an aerial refuelling of two Me-262s or P.1099s or something from underwing pods. Ooohhh two Hortons refuelling would look even cooler! Hmm... food for thought...

The fun part about modelling is that you can be as exacting or as imaginative as you want to be, depending on the subject. Normally, planes don’t lend themselves to much in the way of imagination, but there are plenty of niche types that offer some creative freedom. A perfect example of that is the realm of “Luft ‘46”. This umbrella covers real and conceptual aircraft that were being designed for the future Luftwaffe before the end of the War in 1945. Luft ’46 is one of my favourite subtopics, and in fact is the reason I got back into building plane models about 20 years ago. Early on, I couldn’t find a lot of good Luft ’46 kits, but that didn’t stop me from making my own! On perfect example of this is my jet conversion of the ancient (and terrible) Me-109 from Heller/Airfix. This is an old build, but I still like it, and I thought I should share it. Check it out, and don’t tell me the Germans didn’t come up with weirder ideas! https://adamrehorn.wordpress.com/1-72-messerschmitt-me-709-a-1/

Oh, weird. Shelby wheels on an ElCo? Hmm... kinda goes with the whole "Macho" thing, I guess. Sorta. Okay, not really... I do wish it had come with the right wheels. I don't know if I want to buy the new one just for that, though. I'll have to check my spares box to see what I can come up with. I thought of the MACHO T/A as well. To me, that's one of the most lame, welfare-looking things ever done to a T/A. My laughing hatred of that package is one of the main reasons I wanted to get this kit. That, and that pink was apparently Macho in 1979.... Suuuuure. I definitely agree it's a much cheaper and more distinct looking toy than any of those others! I can't recall the last time I've seen one of these around!